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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900185">Against the Odds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puppet_Cancer/pseuds/Puppet_Cancer'>Puppet_Cancer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trapped [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode Continued, F/M, Gen, S1, Season 1, Spuffy, Trapped, Welcome to the Hellmouth, episode rewrite, season one</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:55:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,180</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puppet_Cancer/pseuds/Puppet_Cancer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Buffy had decided not to wear the cross necklace that a weird stranger had given her? Captured by the enemy, with no hope for escape, perhaps help will come from an unexpected source? Welcome to the Hellmouth, and then goes AU.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Spike/Buffy Summers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trapped [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Against the Odds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for this month's Trapped challenge on Elysian Fields (October 2020).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>
    
    
  </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>He stood in the shadows, watching her. Buffy could feel him, like someone had put an ice cube in the back of her shirt and it was slowly melting down the length of her spine. She squinted to try and see him, see what he looked like, and figure out </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was so set on watching her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t her prison guard, this she knew; the tightly fitted manacles around both of her wrists – made to withstand even Slayer strength – was more than enough to keep her where she was. So, if he wasn’t here to make sure she didn’t escape, then what reason did he have for the staring, which was really getting on her last nerve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A girl could really get the wrong idea here, pal,” she said, the courage in her voice betrayed by how it shook.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A low chuckle sent chills back up her spine, and she watched as a plume of smoke came out of the shadows before a male form followed. “Just tryin’ to suss you out, pet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy thought of the vampire she had staked just a short while ago, who had looked like a DeBarge wannabe stuck in the decade he was turned. She wondered if it was the same with this one, dressed in almost all black – but for a red undershirt – with heavy boots and hair so bright she almost wanted to look away; clearly a reject from the 1970s punk era.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That wouldn’t make him very old and she bet she could take him; if she ever got down from here, of course.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She watched him through narrowed eyes as he took a slow circle walk around her, smart enough to stay where she couldn’t kick out at him. “And what are you sussing?” she asked, irritated that she couldn’t make quotations with her hands as she spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grinned around the cigarette in his mouth but didn’t answer for the longest time. He just stood there, watching her with a tilted head and a strange glint in his dark eyes. “Spider caught a fly,” he quoted, but she couldn’t remember from where. “Bit easy, wasn’t it, getting the supposedly famous Slayer all wrapped up like a prezzie.” His grin grew when he recognized her irritation growing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes but decided that keeping quiet might make him leave and she’d much rather converse with the evil undead than be left on her own, especially knowing that attempting escape was futile. “Vampires cheat,” she said, glaring at him. “They ganged up on me, came up from behind.” Even </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> knew that was a lame excuse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vampire – who, strangely, hadn’t gone into game-face yet – walked a few inches closer, still out of her reach, laughing at her answer. “Way I hear it,” he replied, turning away from her as he began to slowly pace back and forth, “you’re supposedly this grand warrior. Took out Lothos, Amilyn, and most of the rest of that particular Order. Then you came to the Hellmouth and everyone was shaking in their pathetic boots, frightened of the Boogey Slayer.” He leaned forward a bit and curled his lip at her. “Don’t look so special right now, luv.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that why you’re here?” she asked, trying to hide the hurt she felt at his words – and fighting the desire to ask what the hell he meant by Order – as she continued to glare. “To demean me, bully me into, what? Dying of shame? Puh-lease.” She turned away, rolling her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lightning fast, he was right there, in her face. By looking away, she had offered him an opportunity, and now he was too close for her legs to move, his hand around her throat as she felt the air he didn’t need on her cheek. “Listen. Closely.” He was whispering and, in a stroke of genius, Buffy realized that he didn’t want the other vampires to hear. “You’re very screwed right now, Slayer.” Without looking away, he pointed his arm toward the entrance – and exit – of the room she was being kept in. “Out there are </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of vampires, powerful ones, dedicated ones, bloody fanatical the lot of ‘em.” He rolled his eyes and then came back on topic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Point is, fighting your way out even if you </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> free of these chains,” he rattled said manacles, “is not going to happen,  unless you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> to die?” He raised a scarred brow and she forgot to glare at him again, intrigued by where exactly he was going with all of this. “The Master, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>old</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>powerful</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And tonight, when the Harvest frees him...we’ll all suffer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She thought of the strange man from the alleyway behind the Bronze – he’d also mentioned this harvest thing that she had asked Giles to research. “What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rolled his eyes. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Not</span>
  </em>
  <span> the point, Slayer!” He turned away, hurrying out of her leg range once more. Pacing. Again. “Stop focusing on insignificant details. We haven’t got much time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Counting in her head, it was almost three minutes of silence before he was back in her face, not trying to strangle her this time. Perhaps because he knew he had her attention now. “You need to get out of here.” He looked away as he said the second part. “And I can’t take them out on my own.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>So, that’s where he was coming from. A vampire who wanted to destroy his own kind. She wanted to scoff at him, accuse him of trying to trick her, but how could she? She was chained to a wall, surrounded by vampires; in her current state, she was no threat to anyone. There would be no need for hoodwinking. Which meant that he was being serious. And that left her with only one question, really. “Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head swung around so he could stare at her, seemingly not expecting that particular inquiry. Then his brows went down and he frowned. “Got my reasons.” His shoulders slumped and he looked almost sad for a moment. “You in or what? Don’t wanna spend more time than I have to in this bloody place.” He continued to mutter to himself, but it was too low for even her Slayer hearing to catch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy stood up on her toes, stretching herself out until she could both hear and feel her bones cracking throughout her body. Leaning her head from side to side – another cracking up her neck – and she looked back at the peculiar vampire in front of her. “And when we get out of here alive?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, he walked closer, testing out whether she would attack or not as he came within reach of her legs. “I’ll give you my word, right now, that I won’t try to kill you, Slayer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was her turn to raise a brow at him in question. “And how long will that promise last?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smirked, and she wanted to punch him in the nose. “Oh, at least through the night, luv.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy rolled her eyes but didn’t argue against his words; it was better than she’d expected, if she were being honest with herself. “Okay,” she said, shaking her wrists so the manacles shook and made a little bit of noise. “Get me out of these and I’ll have your back. We’ll fight our way out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stared at her for long enough that she almost began to fidget and then gave one, curt nod, walking over to her with determination in his eyes. Eyes that, when he came close enough, she realized were a bright blue. They didn’t seem to fit in with the darkness of the cavernous sewers they were trapped in, and it only made her more desperate to get out – to get the both of them out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chains fell to her feet, making far less noise than she had expected, and finally, she stood before the vampire, equal. “What do I call you? I mean, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> just go with ‘vampire,’ since you keep calling me by </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> title, but that could easily get confusing during battle.” She shrugged at him, her turn to have a glint in her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was back to grinning at her, white teeth almost frightening in the otherwise dark space. He pulled out another cigarette from a pack in an inside pocket of his leather duster – which she was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> jealous of – and lit it up before he spoke. “Name’s Spike, luv. Now, can we cut the pleasantries and get with the killing, already?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glared at him and then walked around the room, looking for weapons. Experience had taught her that vampires were either dumb or overconfident enough in their own abilities that they kept wooden items around, sometimes even decorative crosses and stakes that they used on one another. Sure enough, there was a small collection of weapons in a chest off to the side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking up to the vampire – Spike, she reminded herself, not the strangest name she’d ever heard – she handed him one of the stakes and kept the cross for her own personal use. “Try not to take yourself out with this, at least until you’re no longer useful to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hid her annoyance when her words made him chuckle, the exact opposite reaction she was going for, and headed over to the entrance of the small cavern. “Exactly how many is ‘a lot’?” she whispered, her eyes roaming the main space and counting each vampire she could spot from here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked over to the other side of the entrance, hiding behind the doorway as she was. “My bad, forgot to be there for the headcount this morning.” She wasn’t looking at him, but she </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was rolling his eyes. “A lot means a lot, Slayer. More than twenty, I’d say. If we wait until the sun sets, some will leave to feed and find food to bring back to the Master, which’ll even out the numbers a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Buffy was barely listening at this point. Across the large space stood a familiar young boy, but there was no humanity in his eyes as there had been the last time she’d seen him. “Jesse,” she breathed out, tears welling up in her eyes. The last thing she remembered doing before being knocked out and waking up in chains was being in that little mausoleum, fighting to </span>
  <em>
    <span>save</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jesse. And now he wasn’t just dead; it was so much </span>
  <em>
    <span>worse</span>
  </em>
  <span> than that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know if there are others?” she spoke, frantically looking around for a muted red color and dark brown, but found none so far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike gave her the side-eye, easily figuring out where she was coming from. “From what I heard, they only brought back that one,” he replied, pointing one long finger out at Jesse, standing next to Luke in the middle of the room, right in front of the Master’s throne. “From Darla’s complaints, I’d say there were others, but they got away. How, I don’t know.” She felt two of his fingertips poking at her hips. “Now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>focus</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Slayer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was too relieved to glare at him again, keeping her eyes on the melee before the two hidden fighters. Of course, that relief only lasted for as long as it took her to realize just how many vampires were gathered in the main area of the giant cavern, not to mention the ones lurking around in other parts of the cave and sewer system. How just two of them were going to get through this, she didn’t know, but it was better than sitting around, waiting for them to kill her. Or worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the game plan?” she whispered, still not looking at her temporary companion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard the sound of what she was sure was his boot stubbing out his cigarette on the ground below them before he answered her question. “Take ‘em out. Simple enough. Most important factor, though, is getting to the Master, or none of this will matter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now she turned to look at him. “Seriously? We’re supposed to take on a vampire </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> powerful while fighting off an army of his ‘dedicated followers’?” she replied, quoting his earlier words back at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike rolled irritated eyes and glared at her. “He wants to end the world, Slayer! Do you want to escape to survive for another few hours, or do you want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> live a bit longer than that?” His scarred brow raised again and she huffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy turned her eyes back on the cavern and she stared at the Master as she considered Spike’s words. “You don’t want the world to end?” she asked, not really caring much for the answer as she planned out something in her head, discarding the ideas that ended in her death. She vaguely heard his reply, something about happy meals and pickle squares; she just nodded as if she was listening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed to realize what she was doing not long after he had gone silent again. “I’m very familiar with her way of fighting,” he said, pointing at the blonde in the catholic school girl’s uniform that Buffy had fought last night. “I can take her out more easily than you.” He pointed to Luke. “This one’s tricky, brute strength and all, but he relies on it; not very much with the strategy. You rely on those moves your Watcher drilled into your head, might stand a real chance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the rest?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike shrugged, even though she wasn’t looking at him. “Handful of Childer almost as powerful as Darla and Luke and then a whole host of fledglings, like your friend there.” He didn’t point at Jesse, but she understood him nonetheless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her brows furrowed. “What does that mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” he replied, glancing at her. “Fledges? Means newly-made. There aren’t too many members of this Order left, and not all of us are loyal to the Master, so they’ve had to make a bunch of new followers recently. Makes it easier on us, I suppose.” Again, he shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy ignored the indication that there were hierarchies within the vampire world – and that her new ‘friend’ was apparently directly related to them all – and continued the planning. “We need to lure some of the younger...fledges was it? Need to lure them in and take them out, one by one. Even if they aren’t tough to kill, they could drown us in numbers alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silently, he agreed with her, using one hand to slowly pull her back into the darkness of the space where she’d previously been hanging. Without saying a word, he showed her the two other entrances and exits that did not lead to the main area. She understood the plan immediately; him being a vampire and all, he would lure his fellow demons in here, and together they’d take them out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thin out the herd, as it were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Communicating with a bunch of head nods and shakes and finger-wagging – Buffy was only a tiny bit creeped out by how well they did that, being strangers and natural enemies and all – they got their messages through to one another and Spike soon disappeared back into the shadows as he left to find the first fool to lead to his or her demise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy waited by the manacles, lifting her arms to pretend that she was still captured, figuring that whatever ruse the vampire planned to use, it would probably have something to do with her, considering the room he would be leading them all to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard his voice before she saw him. “...said that we could have some fun.” Understanding immediately, she made a face at the indication, before a last-second idea made her pretend to be passed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the shuffling of feet, she guessed that Spike had brought three fledges with him – it was more than they’d agreed upon, but not too many for the two of them to handle. Assuming he was a good fighter, of course, which she had no idea about, having just figured he was. Praying to whatever god watched over poor Slayers like herself, she tensed up her body and prepared for the signal to start fighting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That all went out the window, though, when she felt a cold, clammy hand on her stomach, moving her shirt out of the way while the disgusting demon chuckled at the idea of getting anywhere with a passed out captive. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ew</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought, as she stood up straight and kicked him clear across the room. One look at Spike’s face told her that this </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> the signal. “Pig,” she whispered and ignored his grinning face as they began to fight the three fledglings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without discussing it, the two fighters automatically wound up shoulder-to-shoulder, battling the three fledges as silently as they could get away with. Buffy noticed with a glance in his direction that Spike was a southpaw, which explained a lot, before a fist thrown her way brought her attention back to the fight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vampire she’d thrown across the room, the one that wanted to do very bad things to her, was very intense, more than the other two. It seemed he had taken her kick personally. That, or he was just mad that he didn’t get to sexually assault the pretty blonde. Either way, Buffy wasn’t going to be feeling sorry for him anytime soon, instead feeling a sick satisfaction whenever she made him bleed just a little bit more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made a surprising lack of noise and she was sure that, even with their superior senses, no one in the main space could hear them. A thud barely registered in her mind before the dust settled and they were down to two; one each.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy and Spike moved from shoulder-to-shoulder to back-to-back, still fighting valiantly and neither one even the slightest bit injured. This would hopefully keep up for as long as possible, since they would need all the strength and endurance they had for when they took out the handful of Childer and, of course, the Master himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was going to be a long night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You okay?” she asked, absentmindedly scraping another small line into the stone wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been nearly two hours since Spike had freed her from the manacles, and they were still inside the little room, waiting for their chance to strike. According to her vampire compadre, the sun was about to set, just another few minutes. They had taken out just enough fledglings to thin the herd out a bit, but not so many that their absence would be noticed anytime soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In this last one, Spike had gotten himself hurt. “Fine, luv,” he said, though he sounded anything but. “Pretty wasteful use of your time, innit?” He was glaring at her line drawing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of boredom, Buffy had kept track of how many vampires they had killed in the past two hours, but she didn’t much care to count them and see what it added up to. Rising from her crouched position, she stretched out her body and cracked her neck, getting ready for the big boss battle they were about to take on. She saw Spike do the same, ignoring the wound on his arm as he walked closer to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Last words?” she said, mentally counting down from when he had said there were five minutes until sunset. According to the bleach-blond, many of the vampires would be leaving immediately after, wanting out after climbing the walls inside all day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For once, he wasn’t smirking, smiling, or grinning at her in some skeevy way. He just looked at her as he spoke in a hushed whisper. “As I said before, Luke’s not much of a thinker, but makes up for it in strength; you need to piss him off. Get him to make a mistake and then don’t hesitate.” He blinked a few times. “In case you end up fighting the bitch, know that she’s the opposite of the brute. She’ll try and play with your head, get </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> to make the mistake; don’t let her get in your head.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the others?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t know ‘em as well, pet, so you’ll have to be on your best game and figure it out for yourself. From what I’ve heard, though, the one with jet-black hair is a lot like Luke, only not quite as strong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy sighed, knowing she had to ask. “The Master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike, too, sighed. “Stronger than Luke. Smarter than Darla. He’s a tricky one.” Reaching into his coat, he handed her a small amulet. “Put this on.” Before she could ask, he answered. “Master’s got thrall, but this should make it easier to fight it off. Mind you, this won’t just automatically keep you safe from his power, but wearing it and knowing the thrall exists, that should be enough to keep him out of your head.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve read about thralls,” she said, thinking back on past lessons with Merrick. “I shouldn’t look him in the eye, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike shook his head slightly. “The Master doesn’t need eye contact, but, yes, that will make it tougher for him to catch you outright. And with the precautions you’ll take,” he indicated the amulet now around her neck, “you should be alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what will you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now he smirked. “Keep the riff-raff off your back while you fight Gramps.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the smile that his words made on her own face. They shared a look heavy with camaraderie; after two hours of fighting together, a small bit of trust had been built, which would make this upcoming battle a lot easier to get through. She hoped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without saying another word, they returned to the exit that led to the main area, staying in the shadows again as they watched most of the Order file toward the sewers so they could leave to find dinner, both for themselves and for the Master. Once they were gone, Buffy turned her eyes on the ones left behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darla was off in the corner with the remaining fledges, an angry look on her face as she talked to them about the plans for the Harvest in a few hours. Luke, the Vessel – according to the symbol on his forehead and what Spike had told her – was conversing with the Master, who sat relaxed on his throne while his favored Childe knelt before him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Giles is gonna have a cow</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she realized, thinking about all the juicy vampire gossip she would be bringing back to him when the fight was over. Because she was going to win. She felt it in her bones; she would walk back out into the light – she would</span>
  <em>
    <span> not</span>
  </em>
  <span> die in a dark, dank cave below the sewers. That was not how her story was going to end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her attention focused back on the vampires in front of her when she heard the sound of her title. There was no time to ask Spike what she had missed as she saw one of the Childer – not Luke or Darla – coming their way. Apparently, the Master had decided that he wanted to have a chat with the Slayer he had captured. That, or he was ready to kill her. Either way, their hands were forced and it was time to implement their planned attack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as the vampire reached the entrance to the cave, Spike lifted up his right leg and kicked out, sending the tall man flying through the air and announcing to the main room that shit was about to go down. Buffy almost wanted to giggle at the whole thing, which took only a few seconds, before chaos broke out everywhere around them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get them!” the Master yelled with authority, now standing up in front of his throne, unable to reach them himself due to the barrier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike had made it very clear to the Slayer exactly where said barrier began and ended, so she could use it to her advantage when it came time to take on the leader of the Order. For now, however, they both focused on everyone else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Splitting up, Spike went left and Buffy took the right, going after the respective Childer that they had agreed upon earlier: Darla and Luke. Oddly enough, the vampires split up, too, and Buffy almost snorted out loud – didn’t they know that it just made them easier to pick off?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Luke was there and she didn’t have time to think any real thoughts, beyond what move she wanted to try next. His feet were heavy and his fists thick, and she shivered as she remembered how easily he had defeated her in the mausoleum, tossing her around like she was nothing more than a rag doll, before knocking her out and bringing her back here to be chained up for the eventual slaughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bastard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You!” he said as he reached her, kicking out at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She avoided his leg, ducking under his arm and throwing a hand into his side as hard as she could. “Me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He huffed as he lost a bit of useless air, turning quickly so his back wouldn’t be to her. She had to admit, he was faster on his feet than she’d expected. “You won’t stop it,” he spoke, because of course he did; the man couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy rolled her eyes and tossed a punch at his face that unfortunately missed. “Not trying to stop anything, just trying not to die.” Swinging around, she landed a roundhouse kick to his knee but didn’t hear anything break. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dammit</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke reached out and managed to get his hand wrapped around her neck, lifting her off her feet. “The Harvest will come to pass and the Master will walk this wretched earth once more.” Clearly, he was ignoring her words. Wonderful. “The Old Ones will crush and bash everything you love.” He pulled her close, staring into her eyes with a small smile. “Not that you’ll be around to see it.” Then he tossed her away, like so much trash.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy tried to turn in a way that would hurt less, but it was too late and she rammed hard and fast into the stone and cement walls that jutted out from all around the cavernous space. She smelled the blood and groaned, seeing Luke advancing on her from the distance. She needed to get up before he reached her or this really would be her final resting place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rising slowly, she rested briefly on her hands and feet, mentally testing out her injuries; turned out they weren’t so bad, she was mostly just winded, with a slightly sore lower spine. Keeping herself down, she waited for Luke to reach her, figuring he would assume he had hurt her worse than he had. Sure enough, he came at her with a smile, ready to kick her while she was down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grabbed onto his foot with both hands, twisting the ankle and then tossing it – and him – several feet away. He didn’t hit a wall, but he did make a lot of noise when he hit the hard ground, so that had to count for something, right? Almost allowing herself to celebrate, she squashed that feeling, knowing it wasn’t done yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sparing a brief glance for the other side of the room as she rose to her feet, she saw that Spike was fully entrenched in his own battle, with two clear piles of dust lying on either side of him as he fought off the combined efforts of Darla and the black-haired Childe. Seeing that he could obviously handle himself, she turned back to her own life and death battle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke was back on his feet, pissed and growling at her. He began to quote what sounded like another Bible verse and she mentally rolled her eyes, coming at him with a quick running start. He didn’t seem to be expecting that, and the element of surprise turned out quite helpful in the end; Spike had been right, he relied too heavily on his brute strength.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She dusted off her hands – no pun intended – and grimaced at the grime, knowing it would take at least two showers to get completely clean again, after this was all over. She shrugged and turned to watch the room. Spike was down to just him and Darla now, and though he seemed to be favoring his left leg, the blonde looked just as injured, and Buffy still felt certain that he wasn’t in desperate need of her help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She spent the next few, short minutes taking out some of the fledges still left behind, and then she faced the Master, trapped as he was behind the barrier line she was standing right in front of. A vicious smile grew on her lips as he angrily shouted; at her, at his followers, at anything or anyone that might be willing to listen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew this was the end. </span>
  <em>
    <span>His </span>
  </em>
  <span>end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy slowly began to pace up and down the length of the invisible barrier. She could feel the hum of it under her skin, thrumming through her veins, realizing that she never needed Spike’s help to point out where it was; it made her Slayer senses stand on end, reminding her exactly when she was about to cross the line, and she knew the Master was waiting for that moment to grab her and quickly snap her neck - she had to play this </span>
  <em>
    <span>just </span>
  </em>
  <span>right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Noting the hundreds of burning candles all around her, she got an idea, but it was tricky, especially if she didn’t want to get trapped and burn alive herself. Knowing he was watching her every move, she slowly walked over to one of the many candles, grabbed it, and then, so fast that he couldn’t keep up, she turned around and threw it at him and his leathery kink-outfit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master jumped out of the way, managing to escape the fire by just a few inches. He glared and growled at her, and then narrowly escaped another two candles that came his way. He kept calling out for his Order, but most of them were out feeding and couldn’t hear him, and the others were currently fighting his bastard of a Childe, Spike – he had always known that boy would be trouble someday, he just hadn’t realized how much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps he shouldn’t have dusted Drusilla three days ago…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy threw another three candles in quick succession and she almost cried out in relief when one of them managed to catch onto the sleeve of his right hand; the fire spread almost halfway up his arm before he put it out. Success. Now she just needed to keep it up and soon he would be weakened enough for her to cross the barrier and deal with him, once and for all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will pay for this insolence, little girl,” he growled, finally talking directly to her instead of trying to get his cronies to come fight his battles for him. About time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy grinned and grabbed another candle, walking up to the invisible barrier. “With what? What are you gonna do from there? Scold me?” She rolled her eyes and threw the flaming missile, hitting him right in the ear; the candle, though, not the fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master continued to growl. “Quite an attitude on you.” He tilted his bald head to the side. “I will </span>
  <em>
    <span>rip</span>
  </em>
  <span> the vocal cords from your throat. Then we will see what you have to say.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Buffy wasn’t just anyone and she’d heard every threat in the book, from nearly every vampire she had ever fought. And defeated. “Ooh, scary. Wanna try that again?” Then she tossed another candle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A bruised and battered Spike, leaning heavily on one leg and bleeding into his eye, smiled in satisfaction borne of decades of subservience as he watched Darla’s dust settle on the ground below him. He lifted his booted foot and crashed it down, stepping on her remains for good measure. Then, as if suddenly reminded of what was going on around him, he looked up to see how the Slayer was doing on her end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched her clever if slightly childish technique against the Aurelian Master of one of the most powerful Orders in the world. He almost fell over with laughter when he saw the infamous Heinrich Nest huddling in the shadows, desperately trying to avoid the flaming missiles thrown by a feisty, bubblegum Slayer. He had to give it to her; she was not like any Chosen One he’d ever met and he had met a lot over the years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master was burned on several spots of his fragile body, his leather suit not covering as much of him as it had before, and he cursed whatever bad luck had struck him that he was saddled with a Slayer such as this. Knowing that the Harvest would not happen, he thought of his other option but wasn’t sure if he had the patience to keep this girl alive just so she could help him escape later down the road. Besides, the Codex didn’t name the Slayer, so it didn’t have to be this one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy was tired of this game. She wanted to get it over with. She wanted to check on Willow and Xander. She wanted to take a shower and ice some of her minor injuries. She wanted to crawl into her bed and sleep like the dead until she had to get up tomorrow and go to school. She just wanted it to be over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing that Spike was finished with his own battles, she caught his eye, and the two once more communicated without the use of any spoken words. Spike stepped forward a bit more, keeping to his side of the barrier as he began to taunt the Master, getting his attention away from the petite Slayer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy didn’t even understand half the words the British blond was hurling at the Master, but somehow she knew they were of the dirty kind, especially when gauging the angered sputtering coming from the trapped vampire. Slowly, silently, her eyes on the two vampires still left in the cavernous space, she stepped across the invisible barrier and walked past the ridiculous throne, rolling her eyes as she went.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as she reached the leather-clad back of the tall vampire, lifting the arm that held the stake, her opponent turned around with a glint in his eye and a smile on his face as he tried to use his thrall on her. However, his smile soon turned into a frown as he realized that it wasn’t working. He glared at the amulet that was wrapped around her neck; he hadn’t noticed that before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Gramps,” Spike spoke from behind him, the smile very clear in his joyful voice. “Years with my dark goddess taught me a thing or two about keeping someone like </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> from cheating. Gonna have to fight fair.” Then he sneered, even though the Master couldn’t see him. “Berk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Master came to this same conclusion while his Childe spoke and Buffy swore she saw the first hint of fear in his eye before it vanished again. It was him against two formidable opponents, and it would probably be another hour before the other vampires would begin to file back in, bringing goodies for a master who would be reduced to dust by then. If Buffy had anything to say about it, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His skin was tougher than the average vampire, she noted as she punched his gut and then kicked him in the side; he didn’t grunt like Luke had and he didn’t seem to be shackled by the unconscious need to breathe the same way most vampires did. She wondered, briefly, how old one had to be, to forget to act even a little bit human.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was that why he looked the way he did?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she flew across the cave once more, she decided not to let her mind wander. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stay focused</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she told herself, getting up again and brushing her clothes off out of habit. While the Master had made sure to keep her inside the barrier field, he hadn’t considered how close she now was to even more candles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And his own, personal weapons chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy and Spike shared a grin as the latter finally crossed the invisible line and wrapped his arms around the Master, giving the Slayer just enough time to root through the wooden – she rolled her eyes – chest and find what she needed to get back on top of the fight. Skipping past the crossbow that Merrick had never gotten around to teaching her how to use and the regular various stakes, her hand instead wrapped around a short sword and a small mace, and she smiled in malicious glee as she got back to her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just in time for the Master to send Spike flying across the room. Buffy briefly thought about how much vampires liked to use that move, before shaking off the distraction and heading back toward the now thoroughly peeved vampire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s enough!” he shouted, clenching his fists and growling even louder than he had before. “It doesn’t matter how many weapons you gather, little girl, it will never be enough to take me out. I am the thing that monsters fear, I am what darkness hides from!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Buffy stopped a few feet away, tilting her head to the side. “No, actually, that would be me.” And then she jumped at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Swinging the mace high, she crashed it down on his skull, leaving him a bit winded and unsteady on his feet. Before he could regain composure, she swung the short sword and cleaved his head from his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh,” she said, looking down at the ground, the toe of her shoe pushing against the skeleton that the master vampire had left behind.“Is this supposed to happen?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike, back on his feet again, came over to stand beside her. “Not sure. Never seen a vamp as old as Gramps killed before. Should probably destroy the bones, just to be safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed but dutifully went over to where she’d dropped the small mace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike picking through the armor chest before he came up with a small weapon that she didn’t recognize, but it looked like a small hammer and would no doubt do the trick just fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Together they smashed the bones of the Master until he was fine as dust, remembering to do the same for the severed head that had rolled a few feet away after being separated from the body. When that was done, from instructions by Spike, Buffy took the dust and tossed it in the small stream and then doused it with the bottle of holy water she’d had on her when Luke had first taken her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently, they hadn’t thought it necessary to search her before stringing her up. Morons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She brought it up to Spike as they made their way to the exit into the sewers, and he laughed. “Most of ‘em had either never faced a Slayer before, or it’d been so long they got bloody cocky. Not surprised they underestimated you, luv. Better for us,” he said with a shrug, smiling at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could feel the camaraderie between them building more as they reveled in their win, and she couldn’t help but return the smile, even as she knew that this truce wouldn’t last much longer, more than likely. She would enjoy the peace while it lasted, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Realizing she probably said that too soon, Spike held out an arm in warning as another vampire bled from the shadows, having seemingly been hidden all this time. “Jesse,” she breathed out again, in the exact same painful tone as earlier that same day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His smirk was cruel and there was nothing left of the boy she had met for the first time just yesterday, the one that hit on Cordelia despite her clear disinterest, the one that teased Xander for putting his foot in his mouth, the one that she thought was so goofy and yet sweet. She would never get to know him as she had been planning. Would never watch him grow up. Grow out of his infatuation with the bitchy popular girl. Grow into a man. Had she known him just a little bit better, maybe she would’ve even shed a tear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As it was, she simply reached out and staked him, watching coldly as his dust fell to the ground. “Let’s get out of here,” she said to her companion, walking over the remains of a young boy whose soul was hopefully at peace now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not a single word was exchanged as they made their way through the sewers, before walking through the exit into the mausoleum; it looked just as it had when she was last here, almost twenty hours ago: signs of a scuffle in a few of the corners, the lid of the coffin tossed to the side and broken in half – by her back, she might add – the door leading into it wide open, cold breeze of the night hitting her right in the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was sure this was a night she wouldn’t soon forget.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is the truce over yet, or do I get a good night’s sleep before you come back for a fight?” She was exhausted as she turned to look at her companion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spike was still smiling, though; not smirking or grinning, but smiling. “Think I’ll take a raincheck, Slayer. You look like a feather breeze could knock you on your arse. Rather not fight a battle I know I can win.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, this didn’t surprise her – he didn’t seem like the type to take the easy way out. “Okay. I guess you’re sticking around then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stood in the cemetery now, surrounded by headstones and nothing else. “The Hellmouth? Never been much of a fan in the past.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was the second guy to use that term, and she briefly pondered asking him what it meant before banishing the thought. Giles would figure it out, eventually. “Well,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward. “Guess, maybe, I’ll see you around?” Did he hear the slight hopeful tone in her voice? She hoped not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He just nodded and watched as she slowly made her way to the exit, never once turning back around to look at him. His smile turned into a grin as he kept his eyes on her, lighting up a cigarette all the while. When she was out of sight, he blew out a plume of smoke and chuckled to himself. “Might stick around after all. Could get interesting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he was gone, too, disappearing back into the shadows he had bled from, visions of a spitfire blonde Slayer dancing through his mind.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Many thanks to my wonderful beta, OffYourBird!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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